The Brilliance of Edible
A Whole New Kind of Arrangement
Do you want to see what real brand strategy looks like? Look at Edible.
Yes—that Edible. Formerly Edible Arrangements.
The one you forgot about.
The one that quietly faded from cultural relevance while the rest of the world moved on to DoorDash, adaptogens, and oat milk.
But while you weren’t watching, Edible was quietly transforming into one of the most strategically aligned, customer-relevant multi-brand platforms being built today.
Not a fruit bouquet this time—this is a whole new kind of edible arrangement.
From Fruit Bouquets to Brand Platform
Let’s rewind.
Tariq Farid, the founder of Edible Arrangements, didn’t come from corporate boardrooms or VC incubators. He started working at a flower shop as a teenager, then opened one of his own when he was 17. He taught himself how to code, built a point-of-sale system, and started thinking about how to apply the floral business model to something more… edible.
By 1999, he had launched the first Edible Arrangements store in East Haven, Connecticut. Just him, a vision, and a whole lot of chocolate-dipped pineapple.
By the early 2000s, he began franchising the concept—and at its peak, Edible Arrangements had over 1,200 locations across the U.S. and internationally. It was the go-to brand for birthdays, apologies, congratulations, and corporate gifts.
But over time, the novelty wore off. Gifting became transactional. Convenience and wellness started to dominate. And eventually, the brand hit decline. It needed a new story.
From Decline to Reinvention
Instead of riding the wave into irrelevance, Farid did what few legacy founders do: he stepped forward, not back.
He formed BroadPeak Capital, a private equity firm, to regain brand control and reinvent its future. Not by returning to what worked in 2005—but by building something new for 2025.
He brought in a familiar name to help: his daughter, Somia Silber, who’s been with the company for over two decades and now leads as CEO of Edible Brands.
Together, they’re not salvaging a brand.
They’re building a platform.
What They’re Actually Building
Let’s break it down:
Edibles.com – Legal THC and CBD products, playing to wellness and relaxation
Roti – Mediterranean fast-casual, acquired out of bankruptcy, prepped for scale via franchising
FreshFruit.com – A subscription service for everyday produce
Next-gen Edible stores – Grab-and-go snacks, flowers, coffee, desserts, and yes—gifts
Each part could survive on its own.
But together?
They create a lifestyle portfolio that matches where consumers are.
And the infrastructure that powered 1,000+ Edible Arrangements locations? Now it powers everything.
Why This Works (When Other Portfolios Don’t)
Compare it to the Subway + Cinnabon combo under Roark Capital. That’s operational synergy, not consumer strategy. It works on paper, not on taste buds. Nobody walks into Subway hoping for a warm-up cinnamon roll.
Edible, on the other hand, is built on emotional relevance and operational logic.
It meets people where they are:
Gifting with meaning
Wellness with options
Food with frequency
Retail with flexibility
It’s not a gimmick. It’s a system.
And it all started with one guy, some flowers, a side hustle POS system, and a pineapple.
The MAC Take
This is what strategic repositioning looks like in the real world:
Grounded in founder insight
Guided by consumer needs
Scaled through smart, modern operations
The new Edible isn’t about nostalgia. It’s about platform thinking with a pulse.
And while the marketing world hasn’t caught up yet, we have.
Because this edible arrangement?
It’s not fruit on sticks.
It’s a carefully arranged portfolio of relevance, reinvention, and real growth.
💡 Got a legacy brand quietly reinventing itself? Send it to MAC. We’ll unpack it before the headlines do.